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  • From: bcluton AT aol.com
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Farmall Super A
  • Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:04:19 -0500

The Super A won't go quite that wide.  It maxes out at 64" centers and at that the tractor feels awfully wide.  The adjustments are made in front by moving the front axles out - you'll notice a number of holes through the round or diamond tubing depending on the model.  The rear adjustments are made by mounting the hubs in various positions.  Depending on the condition of bolts, etc. this can be pretty easy work or require cutting and replacing bolts, etc.  The standard manuals which are still available online have good descriptions of this.

In terms of covering the tire tracks you'd need to track down the rear cultivator set and also the mounts that go with it.  The mounts are often the harder parts to find but there is a chance they may be on the tractor already.  If you squat behind the tractor the frame comes down on each side in the rear.  There are two half moon shaped final drive oil pans that are the lowest metal on the rear of the tractor.  Just above these oil pans you should notice a few cast and threaded rods - about two inches long.  The two in the rear (on each side) are used to mount the rear cultivator brackets.  If the brackets are there and mounted it's simply a piece of cast iron that mounts to rods with big nuts and then wraps slightly behind and under the frame.  The bracket has a open tubular part that is parallel to the ground and perpendicular to the wheel.  This accepts the rocker arm on the rear cultivator set up.  I only add this last paragraph because these brackets can be harder to find than the cultivators sometimes.  And they are at times still mounted to tractors that haven't had rear cultivators in who knows how long.

With regards to the other post about ground speed and steering.  There are two things that are critical to both.  

Certainly you lose space with any tractor to headlands required for turning but you can minimize this with tight turning equipment.  The best way to turn a tractor in a tight spot and the way most farmers did it was with the brakes.(this was particularly the case pre-power steering)  The brake pedals on the Super A can be latched together or operated independently.  If you have good working brakes you simply raise the implement turn the steering wheel a bit and step on the brake.  It takes a bit of playing around with but you can turn the things on a dime.

In terms of ground speed with the Super A this has less to do with gearing than with a smoothly operating throttle and governor.  I have a MF 135 with a creeper gear and I can drive our Super A slower than that tractor.  You need the governor working right.  In 1st gear and with the throttle all they back you can dial these tractors in to truly putter along.  I swear you can hear the independent cylinder strokes the engine is turning so slowly.  You'll have to practice a bit to get your throttle work and clutching dialed in because a change in pitch in the field or a large rock or something can stall a tractor running this low.  So yes probably a newer cultivating tractor with a really slow gear would be a bit easier out of the box but you can get yourself to be able to cultivate awfully slow.  (although I think ideally we'd like to be able to cultivate really fast!)

I can't recommend the following site enough when it comes to anything old tractor related.  Great forums, info, easy parts research, etc.

It's Yesterdays Tractors at www.ytmag.com

Best of luck,

Brian

 



-----Original Message-----
From: Jen and Derek Campbell <jenanddereksfarm AT gmail.com>
To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Mon, Dec 20, 2010 10:32 am
Subject: [Market-farming] Farmall Super A

I am looking to purchase a Farmall Super A and I was hoping for some advice.  I would like an offset cultivating tractor and I have not been able to get my hands on an Allis Chalmers G so I'm looking at the Farmalls again.  We are currently on 72" centres and I'm wondering if the Super A can widen out to work for that spacing?  A set of mid-mount cultivators comes with the tractor and I will be looking into purchasing a basket weeder also eventually.  The tractor I am looking at right now is $2000 and looks to be in really good shape,  the tires look to be almost brand new.  Also, since there is only a drawbar on the back how would I cultivate my wheel tracks?  Any suggestions or advice for the above questions, thanks in advance!! 

Jen

--
Jen and Derek Campbell
1805 Route 13
Brookvale PE
C0A 1Y0
902-658-2148
JenAndDereksFarm AT gmail.com
http://farmfreshveggies.blogspot.com/
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